GRATITUDE and GROWTH by Ari Witkin, Rabbinic Intern
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Volume 26, Issue No . 5 Iyar 5779 / May 2019 GRATITUDE AND GROWTH by Ari Witkin, Rabbinic Intern Growing up, my family took the old speaking like it. Though at first caught a bit off guard by this adage, “it takes a village to raise rather direct feedback, it has stuck with me as a reminder of both a child” pretty seriously. There were the importance and the responsibility of teaching Torah. More always a lot of people in our lives and powerful than that simple moment of feedback though, is the we were, in turn, quite involved in feeling of encouragement I receive each week from these two theirs. As a kid I understood this as pillars of our community. totally normal, and it really wasn’t until I moved away from home that I realized how lucky I was to have In the winter of my first year here, Rabbis Zeff and Sklover asked been raised, not just by two wonderful parents, but a whole village if I would step in to take the lead on teaching our confirmation of community members who were dedicated to helping me grow students. Recalling my own confirmation experience, I reluctantly into a successful adult. As I look back at my youth, I can see so agreed to spend my Tuesday evenings with our 10th graders. As clearly now what a blessing that was, and how much of who I am my second group of students is preparing to come before the was shaped by all those people who invested in me their love community as confirmands, I am in awe of just how incredible and support. they are, and how much I have learned by going on this journey with them. For those who don’t know, our confirmation program As I come to the end of my time as the Student Rabbi here at GJC, invites students to explore what faith means in their own lives I am struck by a similar sense of gratitude for the opportunities, through a year of visiting and studying other religious traditions. guidance, and encouragement I have been blessed to receive In each of our visits the teens have been great ambassadors for from so many members of our community. Serving as your Judaism and GJC, as well as inquisitive students of our neighbors’ Student Rabbi has been so much more than simply an internship; religious beliefs and traditions. it has been an experience of tremendous growth personally, professionally, and spiritually. Over the past two years, GJC has Beyond the small moments of learning, the time so many of you become a place I call home and, as I look back at my time here, have taken to help me think and rethink how we build I am overcome by just how big a role this community has played community, how we could make services more accessible or in my life. So it feels only natural for me to affirm, on the precipice create programs that more people are excited about—it has been of my ordination, that, just as it takes a village a raise a child, so the opportunity to be so fully immersed in community for which too does it take a village to raise a rabbi. I am most grateful. From High Holiday celebrations to late-night learning on Shavuot, brit millot and baby namings to standing What a village we have. From my very first days here I have been room only shiva minyanim, Wednesday pretzels to Sunday bagels, in awe of the vibrancy of our congregation, the wealth of skills and countless impromptu conversations at the Co-op or in the and knowledge, the passion for Judaism and community, and the woods, life as a member of the GJC is beautifully full. commitment to living our values in service of building a more just and peaceful world. As I prepare to move into the next chapter of In one of my favorite lines from the Mishna, Rabbi Nehorai says, my rabbinic career, there are a number of lessons and moments “exile yourself to a place of Torah, and do not say that it will follow from my time at GJC that I know will serve as foundational after you, that your colleagues will make it yours. Do not rely on elements of the community member and rabbi I hope to be. your own understanding.” (Pirke Avot 4:14) How grateful I am to have had the opportunity to immerse myself in a community so In the world of seminary education, they talk a lot about full of Torah, to have been your teacher, but more so your developing a “rabbinic voice.” While this means more than just student, and to have received the gift of understanding from so the physical way in which we speak, I will never forget meeting many incredible individuals. As Liz and I prepare to head to Paul Minkoff and Marty Kaplan at kiddush after giving my first Detroit, I can only hope that Rabbi Nehorai proves to be just Shabbat morning d’var Torah and being told in no uncertain terms a little bit wrong, and that the beautiful Torah I have learned from that if I was going to be the rabbi here, I would have to start this community does indeed follow me. SHABBAT & HOLIDAYS MAZAL TOV! May 3 & 4 IN CELEBRATION OF... • Kabbalat Shabbat (Friday night service) • BBMM Family Shabbat Dinner & Siyyum • Kol D’mamah Shabbat Experience with Leah Weisman Maxine Wray, daughter of Jill Gurvey and Matthew Wray, • Dorshei Derekh w/ Charry Service: Mazal tov to on becoming Bat Mitzvah Ezra Stern, son of Richard Stern & Mindy Brown, on becoming Bar Mitzvah Toby Kessler-Cohen, son of Gwynn Kessler and Tamara Cohen, • Minyan Masorti Memorial Shabbat on becoming Bar Mitzvah May 10 & 11: GJC Family Retreat Weekend • Kabbalat Shabbat (Friday night service) IN MEMORIAM • Parashat ha-Shavua B’Ivrit Samuel Feinberg, husband of Helene Feinberg May 17 & 18 • Shabbat Together (Friday night service) Roselle Numerof, mother of Brenda Laigaie z”l, mother-in-law • Charry Service: 6th grade Torah / 5th grade Haftarah of David Laigaie and grandmother of Grace and Jake • Musical Marching Minyan Sonia Dishler, mother of Dodi Klimoff, and long-time member May 24 & 25 of Germantown Jewish Centre • Shabbat in the Neighborhood (Friday night service) John Phillips, husband of Gina Michaels May 31 & June 1: Pride Shabbat • Friday Night Pride Rabbi Emet Tauber, nephew of Judith Miller • Pride Shabbat June 7 Marciene Mattleman, wife of Herman Mattleman, mother • Shabbat Warmup Storytime @ Big Blue Marble of Barbara Mattleman, grandmother of Arielle and Max, and • Speed Shabbat long-time member of Germantown Jewish Centre June 8: Erev Shavuot HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH • Charry Service: Confirmation Shabbat H H • Shabbat Sha’Baby H WELCOME H • Parashat ha-Shavua B’Ivrit H H • Tikkun Leyl Shavuot NEW MEMBERS H H June 9: Shavuot I H Abigail Weber H • Sunrise Service Joseph and Marilyn Kushick • Minyan Masorti & Charry Shavuot Service H H • Dorshei Derekh Shavuot Service w/ Yizkor HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH June 10: Shavuot II • Charry Shavuot Service w/ Yizkor • Minyan Masorti Shavuot Service w/ Yizkor ISRAELI June 14 & 15 DANCING • Kabbalat Shabbat (Friday night service) • Charry Service: Mazal tov to Lucy Kroll, daughter of Sundays at 10 AM Janet Kroll, on becoming Bat Mitzvah May 5, 12, 19 • June 2, 16 June 21 & 22 Taught by our wonderful, experienced dance teacher, Grant • Kabbalat Shabbat (Friday night service) Shulman, GJC’s Israeli dance group welcomes dancers of all • Dorshei Derekh w/ Charry Service: Mazal tov to ages and levels. We begin each session with 45 minutes of Yossi Ravital, child of Ameet & Genie Ravital, on beginner dances, followed by instruction, review, open becoming B’nei Mitzvah dancing, and requests with increasing levels of difficulty. June 28 & 29 GJC’s dance group is proud to be friendly and inclusive. • Shabbat in the Neighborhood (Friday night service) For more information, • Charry Service: Mazal tov to Diana Tamir & Abi Weber please contact Tamar Magdovitz at on their aufruf [email protected] 2 www.fac e bo o k.c o m/ g e rmanto wnjewishc e ntre/ PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE by Denise Wolf, GJC President Ok, I admit it: I am an avid fan of the shop similarly reflected concern for what American Judaism Little Shop. I love it. I love the items on should look like, and many of the objects sold in them blurred display. I love the cheery and helpful tradition with modern forms, employing Jewish artists and volunteers who work there. I love how creating a thriving Judaica industry. Underlying this new attention it makes me feel when I browse. to aesthetics, however, was deep tension about living in diaspora after the Holocaust, embracing modern American consumerism Besides the convenience of being able and its assimilationist logic, and, also, making Jewishness visible.” to purchase a last-minute birthday gift for an 8-year-old, or selecting Today, our Little Shop continues its legacy of bringing Judaism a gorgeous Nambé bowl for my into our homes. It certainly has assisted my family in this manner. mother-in-law, the Little Shop has Our purchases contain the memories of our family. When we shared many life events with me. moved to our new home, my husband, Paul, selected a mezzuzah Through thick and thin, it has stuck for the front entrance. My eldest son sifted through catalogues with me, and I with it. But, before I poetically reflect upon of kippot for his Bar Mitzvah at the Little Shop. I chose my my unflappable devotion to this 560-square-foot space on the first and only tallis at the Little Shop.